FISCAL ADVISORY COUNCIL: ‘CONSIDERABLE WORK’ STILL NEEDED TO FIX PUBLIC FINANCES
A panel of experts says a ‘neutral’ budget is not the way to go for the Irish economy in 2015.
The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council says next month’s plan should outline cuts and tax increases closer to the original costing of 2 billion euro.
That is despite a series of positive announcements in relation to economic growth in recent weeks.
Chairman Professor John McHale says he is well aware of the pressure on the government to give people a break – but his members are trying to avoid another ‘boom and bust’ scenario.
“The politics do push towards relaxing fiscal discipline and it’s got us into an awful lot of trouble in the past” he said.
“So while we understand the politics now focuses very much on the economics and what ensures a sustainable growth rate for the Irish economy, and not to have the huge costs imposed by another bust” he added.
